Turntable upgrade options SN2 + P3+ P6 or RP8

Hi folk, I’m about to upgrade my turntable from a 20 year old Rega Planar 3 with year old elys2 through Rega fono MK2, SN2, ProAc studio 140Mk2’s to either… and here’s where I’d like a little insight and experience beyond listen for yourself. I’m about to go into 4 week minimum lock down here and it seems a good way to settle in a new deck and enjoy new sounding tunes…
new P3 + Ania + Rega fono MC or new P6 Exact or RP8 ex demo with my existing Elys2 for future upgrade ???
what would you do?
I think I know

I would go for the RP8 and provide the foundation for the next 20 years :sunglasses:

ps I use the Ania in my LP12 and it’s superb :grin:

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I think it sort of depends upon where you see yourself with your vinyl.

I tend to think that the quality of your amplifier merits a Planar 6 or better. And yet I wonder how good the Planar 3 with MC Ania Pro and Fono MC can be. Rega seem very good at putting these bundles together. But I am limited in my thinking here. To my mind an MC on a Planar 3 seems wrong. And yet a glance at their site says it is an offer they are making.

The Planar 6 with Ania was on dem at my dealer recently, into Fono MC and SN2. I know this is not what you asked about but I found it very good, a definite rival to the LP12. Different but it did some things my Linn doesn’t, in terms of detail and timing.

Please let us know how it goes…

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I would look at a much better Phono first…and a nice cart…

A good Phono will last you thru many TT upgrades

But that’s just me…

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ordinarily I would be going down the phono amp route and an Aria was next on my list on the way towards a P8, but with a 4 week lock down starting tomorrow, another TT enables a vinyl system in my bedroom, for while the kids are in the lounge.
Yesterday I checked my dealers stock and then found a rare listing on the local market and ended up buying a secondhand P6 in a package with Ania, Fono MC and Chord Clearway Din lead, with 3 hours use, for the price of a P6 with no cartridge. It should be with me by the end of the week and will be the first piece I gear I’ve bought without listening to. Crazy times!

I bought an RP6, Ania, Fono MC about 5 months ago, which at the time, I demoed against a new P3 with the latest MM cartridge. I found the RP6, Ania significantly ahead of the P3 with the MM cartridge. Yours, being the later P6, I would expect may bring even more performance benefits. I think you will be pleased with the results. Will be interesting to hear your thoughts once it’s all in place.

Yep I’m looking forward to it and it will be interesting as I’ve demoed the RP8 Aria with an Apheta so the bar is high, but I’m hoping that I’ll get a reasonable opening of the sound stage in comparison to my worn out old Planar 3

Please let us know what you make of the Planar 6.

I can’t shed much light on your conundrum, but I am in the same boat! Upgrading my RP3/Elys2/Fono mk2 and considering P6/Ania and new phono stage. Mate of mine has got a Clearaudio Concept which he recommends and i want to demo both. Good luck and would be interested to hear how you get on.

I had my RP8 only SN2 via a stageline, worked really well and still works well with my 282

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Holy smoke it’s good eh!

More of everything, including space between notes, but Ooooh the depth and detail in the bass. I’m loving this.

I’ve been building my system bit by bit over the last 3 years for this day!

It arrived late Friday and I set it up. A little too quick it turns out, as it’s taken until just now (and say 8hours listening) to realise that the ‘lack of left channel’ and need to swing the balance on the SN2 to about 9.30, was the left channel dip switch on the fono set to 63 instead of 69.

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Glad you’re pleased with it; I was pretty sure you would be. I’ve just left the Fono MC with the same settings it came out the box with. I understand that, by default, they leave the factory with the settings optimised for a Rega MC cartridge.

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Congrats on a wonderful vinyl source. When I was getting back into Vinyl a couple of years ago I auditioned extensively the Rega P6, RP8 and RP10. I seem to have strange priorities in what works for me, but I preferred P6 Ania to RP8 Ania and thought vs RP10 it was swings and roundabouts for preference (to my twisted tastes). In the end I went for the Linn moneypit, but I still recall how perfectly balanced the P6 was in its capabilities, very ‘happy in its own skin’ if that makes any sense. I reckon you’ve made a great choice. Enjoy rediscovering all your records!

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It’s a whlie since I demo’d an RP8 Apheta, Aria with an SN1 and my speakers and in a very different space, but I’m happy that this set up is as good to my ears or better. Balance maybe. I’m very impressed with the difference.

I the guys I bought it off were less than pleased to hear about the dip switch, apart from the fact that I wasn’t about to return it to them, it’d had been set up in their home by a dealer and may explain why they’d used it so little.

what cart is on your rp8 and which stageline are using?

It’s an Apheta 2 and the stageline, I think, is a stageline s

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